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buildingskills LEARN THE BASICS B y ANdy ENgEL Brush-painting a steel door W hile steel entry doors are durable, reasonably priced, and energy effi- cient, their details don’t match the visual warmth of a well­built wood door. Still, a good paint job can go a long way to making a steel door look as welcoming as a wood one. The key to a good­looking paint job on any door is the direction of the brushmarks. On a wood door, the grain dictates the direction that you paint. With a steel door, think how the grain would run if the door were wood, and paint accordingly. Paint in moderate conditions. If you work in the direct sun or in very hot temperatures, the paint can dry too quickly, making it hard to clean up errant brushstrokes or blend more paint onto freshly painted areas. Although many paints can be used in temperatures as low as 35°F, working in the cold makes paint harder to spread. And if the temperatures drop below the minimum, the paint won’t cure properly. Buy a quality acrylic paint and follow the directions. Acrylic paint holds up well and is easy to clean from brushes with water. The door shown here is a fire door for separating a garage from living space, so I didn’t prime over the factory primer. Had this been an exterior door, I would have primed it using the same sequence as in the photos. Although you can paint doors while they’re hanging in their frames, I prefer to work with them lying flat. Drips and sags in the paint are less likely, and there’s no chance you’ll spill paint on the foyer floor. Senior editor Andy Engel is a former builder. Photos by Patricia Steed. 88 FINE HOMEBUILDING 1 Clean the door. Use window cleaner to remove dirt and oil from the door. The cleaning agents are meant to evaporate and to leave glass free of streaks, so they don’t leave residue that could interfere with paint adhesion. 2 Rough up the surface. Use your fingers to guide a synthetic steel-wool pad into all the nooks and crannies. Use a microfiber tack cloth to pick up the dust. 3 Paint the panel molding first. Here, the brushmarks should go in the long direction of each edge. 4 Brush the panel ends. Use careful, short brushstrokes running in the same direction as the length of the panels, never across their width. step by step